Gold Star Families Memorial Park

Chicago, Illinois

The Gold Star Families Memorial and Park, a 5-acre lakefront site in Museum Campus just east of Soldier Field, honors the memory of the more than 460 police officers who have died in the line and performance of duty since the founding of the Chicago Police Department in the 1830s.  Woodhouse Tinucci Architects designed the two pairs of pylons which are placed 1500 ft apart to form the north and south entrances to the memorial.  The towering pylons, standing canted like monumental doors left ajar, are fabricated of burnished stainless steel plates slanted at various angles to reflect the luminescence of the candlelight vigils held at the memorial. Their gridded pattern recalls the CPD's distinctive trademark checkerboard banding that marks the officers' field hats while the gleaming stainless steel expresses the enduring memory of the officers' sacrifice and the incorruptibility which is their ideal.

Recognition

2008 ASLA Illinois Design Award (Wolff Landscape Architecture)

Project Data

Area/Budget: N/A sf / $3,500,000

Scope: entry pylons in 5-acre memorial park on Chicago lakefront to commemorate police officers killed in the line of duty

Project Team: David Woodhouse, David Sherman (project architect), Seth Romig, Andy Tinucci 

Wolff Landscape Architecture (landscape); Charter Sills (lighting); Graf/x Communication Group (graphics); Weber Consultants (mep); Fisher & Partners (structural); Milhouse Engineering (civil); McHugh Construction (general contractor)

Photographer: William Kildow